Senate Democrats’ CFPB Double Standard

Yesterday, 44 Senate Democrats, including Senators Chuck Schumer, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders sent out a letter calling for a “bipartisan” Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In doing so they exposed the fact that they’re advocating for an outrageous double standard when it comes to who’s leading the CFPB. That’s because, when Democrats were in charge they had no problem confirming Richard Cordray, an extraordinarily partisan Democrat, to run the agency.

It’s only when Republicans are in charge that their concerns about the partisan credentials of the Director of the CFPB materialized. After all, if they truly wanted a bipartisan nominee, they would have voted down someone with Cordray’s resume. Here are facts:

Before running the CFPB, Richard Cordray was an elected Democratic official, having won the post of Ohio Attorney General.

Cordray is now running for Governor of Ohio, as a Democrat, further underscoring his Democratic bona fides.

In 2016, 100% of the $50,000 in political contributions made by CFPB employees went to Democrats. The CFPB “was one of just four agencies” in which not one penny went to a Republican candidate.

No one should be fooled by the Senate Democratic letter. The single purpose of their letter is to keep political control at the CFPB in Democratic hands.